Danish / Denmark
Når hjertet er en elpisker
(When the heart is an electric blender)
Vedsø, Mette
(text)
[København]: Høst & Søn, 2019. – 151 p.
ISBN 978-87-638-6357-5
Anxiety disorder | Pressure to perform | Self-confidence | Community
Reading age: 12+
White Ravens issue: 2020
During English class, Pi suddenly collapses. Everything goes black; dizziness; boom. At the hospital, she is diagnosed with anxiety disorder. Her parents, well-off workaholics for whom high performance and success are everything, only want the best for their daughter. They arrange therapy after therapy, so that she can cope with “the crisis” as quickly as possible, go back to school, and function well. Yet that doesn’t work. Pi takes the time she needs and makes friends with three extraordinary people in her apartment block: Gillian Brown, an elderly lady, plus Bianca and her daughter, Vicky, all three of them street-wise, warm-hearted, and imperfect. Pi gets to know different ways of living and realizes that she is perfectly okay the way she is; and at some point, so do her parents. Pi, who tells her own story, is curious, clever, and a good observer. She is definitely no sociophobe, but rather open-minded and helpful. The four inhabitants of the house quickly become very close, and Pi benefits more from this closeness than from any school lesson. [IG]